Bristol Bears secured a bonus-point victory as they overcame Newcastle Falcons 37- 21 in Round 15 of the Gallagher Premiership on Saturday in what was their fourth win on the bounce.
The Bears ran in four tries as Andy Uren, Siva Naulago, Luke Morahan and Alapati Leiua all crossed the try line, with fourth choice fly-half and kicker Tom Whiteley scored 17 points with the boot, landing all four conversions and three penalities.
On a negative note three of the hosts' players received yellow cards, with Dave Attwood, today’s captain Joe Joyce and Steven Luatua all spending periods in the bin.
Falcons touched down three times through Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti and Nathan Earle and were awarded a penalty try just before the break as Bristol repeated collapsed their driving maul. Young fly-half Will Haydon-Wood landed both of his conversion attempts for the other four points.
Our reporter Lowri Jacob takes a closer look at the individual performances at Ashton Gate on what was an entertaining performance from the Bears.
15. Luke Morahan - 8
The fullback started the game immensely finding and squeezing through gaps in the Newcastle defence.
He put a lovely grubber kick through to send Siva Naulago over the try line before securing a try of his own minutes later, powering down the left wing and touching down in the corner.
It was beginning to look like a wonderful afternoon for Morahan, who gained significant metres throughout his 24 minutes before his afternoon was ended early by injury as he appeared to full a muscle in the act of jetting down the touchline for his fine score.
14. Siva Naulago - 9
It was a dream first start of the season for the man of the match with the Fijian winger extremely threatening throughout.
He crossed for an excellent try, niftily stealing the ball from the hands of Will Haydon-Wood on his own try line to touchdown.
The winger was making breaks left, right and centre and beating defenders for fun. He made a total of 141 metres in just eight carries, along with three clean breaks and some outstanding offloading!
Also contributed heavily to his side’s breakdown efforts, with four turnovers to his name.
The man is turning into a prodigious try scorer in union to match his feats in league.
13. Semi Radradra - 8
Another Mr Reliable performance by the centre; beating defenders, offloading and winning turnovers.
His customary huge hits got Ashton Gate roaring, with the Fijian set to step up in the absence of some international team-mates during the Six Nations.
12. Piers O’Conor - 7
The Piers O'Conor of last season, the man who was shortlisted for the Premiership player of the season, looks to be back.
He showed huge work rate throughout, creating attacking platforms for the Bears to score from, with his slick footwork before pushing through the Newcastle defence and drawing in defenders to create space for the opening try for Uren.
11. Henry Purdy - 6
The winger took some big hits when trying to break the Falcons defence, but limited opportunities meant Purdy did not see much of the ball today, rendering him unable to make his stamp on the game.
10. Tom Whiteley - 8
Who needs Callum Sheedy, Ioan Lloyd and Sam Bedlow when you have fourth choice fly-half Whiteley.
A fantastic 100% record from the tee saw him bag 17 points although the experiment of playing the scrum-half at number 10 lasted all of five minutes before Tiff Eden was introduced with Uren suffering an apparent hamstring injury.
The summer signing showed was he is about, spotting gaps in the Falcons defence, and assisted in the run-up to Leiua’s try. He was also defensively strong, a stand out moment being a try-saving tackle, which handed Bears huge momentum.
The only downfall for the fly-half was conceding a try, when a grubber kick from Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti proved too much to handle, spilling the ball in the process.
A fantastic afternoon regardless.
9. Andy Uren - 7
The scrum-half opened the scoring, with a clear run in thanks to centre O’Conor. He would leave the field with only five minutes played clutching his hamstring
1. Jake Woolmore - 6
The prop tackled well during his 40-minute performance before the whole front row was replaced at the interval. Solid at scrum-time and made a physical impact during his minutes
2. Bryan Byrne - 7
The hooker put in a solid defensive shift making 12 tackles. He also made a strong block of a Haydon-Wood kick before being replaced at the half-time whistle.
3. Max Lahiff - 6
Lahiff was unable to make a stamp in this game, with just 40 minutes to play with. Much like his fellow front-row starters he tackled assuredly, showing off his usual startling work rate.
4. Dave Attwood - 7
His afternoon was dampened when he saw a yellow card at the end of the first half for repeated offences. Prior to that it was a solid performance from the lock, defending well on his own try line, while on the other side of the ball charging over the gain line powerfully, most notably with an athletic, spinning burst in the build-up to the Bears scoring.
5. Joe Joyce (c) - 5
Despite leading Bears to victory, the captain was penalised at the end of the first half for collapsing the driving maul, resulting in a ten minute stay in the sin bin.
Tackled well but ultimately his performance was overshadowed by his yellow card, which did seem slightly harsh after watching the incident back.
6. Chris Vui - 6
A major moment for the flanker was kickstarting the attacking phase that resulted in Morahan’s try with a sumptuous offload which are becoming increasingly common from the Samoan international captain.
A turnover ball on the try line and some great offloading set up a great attacking platform for the home side continuing with their new approach of ‘keep ball alive’.
Gave away a penalty in Bears’ 22 for side entry which gifted the Falcons a huge attacking opportunity from five metres out.
Dan Thomas - 6
It was a quiet afternoon for Thomas, he worked well defensively but struggled to get into the game.
Fitz Harding - 7
Another huge performance for the number eight, making a Herculean 15 tackles, placing him at the top of the Bears’ stat charts. Worked tirelessly to win turnover ball, while contributing well in attack in beating two defenders.
Replacements:
16. Harry Thacker - 6
17. Yann Thomas - 6
18. John Afoa - 6
19. Sam Jeffries - 5
20. Steven Luatua - 5
The replacement backrower saw a yellow card for repeated Bristol infringements in their own 22.
21. Tiff Eden - 6
Replaced Uren following a hamstring injury early on. Kicked an impressive 50/22 and showed off some pinpoint passing.
Did his chances of playing a bit more no harm at all.
22. Antoine Frisch - 5
23. Alapati Leiua - 7
Replaced Morahan at the 20-minute mark and made a dream return from injury, crossing the try line for the Bears’ bonus point try, while making numerous breaks that put the Falcons on the back foot.
